"Joey said there was only one club he would make a sacrifice for and it would be Everton and I made that call to Martinez.

"That is the club he loves. I have approached them and said Joey would love to have Everton on his CV. Fair play to him he said he would lose money to go to Everton - and not many professionals would do that."

McKay claims Martinez, who is in the market for a central midfielder, is an admirer of Barton.

"Roberto Martinez said he likes him as a player and he also spoke to (Martinez's assistant Graeme Jones, who loves him as a player," he added. "Anything can happen in football. It could happen."

Martinez and the rest of the Everton squad are currently in San Francisco where they will kick-off their pre-season games in the United States on Wednesday night against Juventus in the International Champions Cup.